Post Weight Loss Surgery

“Baggy body” Skin removal after weight loss

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If you’ve managed to lose a significant amount of weight, you may find that the skin fails to shrink back to its former size and shape. I offer a number of surgical procedures that are especially designed to deal with any excess skin and loose tissues you may be left with.

Collectively known as “body contouring surgery,” these procedures include tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), breast lift (mastopexy), arm and thigh lift, body lift, and face/neck lift. They all involve the removal and tightening of excess skin with sculptural tissue contouring to give a smoother, more youthful and more natural appearance. This can transform your life by freeing you from the embarrassment, discomfort and restrictions caused by loose hanging skin.

You may have lost weight after bariatric surgery (gastric bypass, band or sleeve) or simply through diet or exercise. Whilst this is healthier in the long run, it can leave you with the problem of large amounts of loose hanging skin around various areas of the body, which is both disfiguring and uncomfortable.

Common problems include an abdominal apron, saggy thighs, bingo wings, deflated and droopy breasts, saggy buttocks, loose neck and rolls on the back. It’s very demoralizing considering the weight loss you’ve achieved; it restricts you can do and wear; and it can massively dent your self-esteem.

Reconstructive plastic surgery is performed to remove the excess skin and lift the body, in order to improve your appearance and to alleviate your symptoms. Research has shown that patients who undergo reconstructive body contouring surgery following massive weight loss experience significant improvements in their physical function, emotional wellbeing, body image satisfaction, physical wellbeing and quality of life. After body contouring you’re also less likely to regain the weight.

Benefits of body contouring surgery:

Feel more comfortable
Relief from the discomfort of loose hanging skin
Better-proportioned appearance with smoother body contours
Clothes will fit better
Easier bathing and improved skin hygiene
Freedom to take up sports and exercise
Improved body confidence
Less likely to regain weight

The body contouring procedures that I offer include:

Body lift
Tummy tuck (Abdominoplasty/Apronectomy)
Breast uplift (Mastopexy)
Combined Breast Lift & Enlargement (Augmentation-Mastopexy)
Arm lift (brachiaplasty) & Thigh lift
Upper body Lift (a combination of arm lift & breast lift that also removes the excess tissues on the sides of the rib cage)
Lower body Lift (belt lipectomy; circumferential abdominoplasty)
Buttock Lifts
Thigh lift
Neck lift / facelift

The specific details for each procedure can be found on this website listed under the individual operations for different body areas.

Staging surgery
To achieve to body you are looking for, you may want procedures on several different parts of the body. If you are looking to have more than one procedure performed, it is wise to stage this surgery. You prioritize your main concerns as it is not feasible to perform all the rejuvenation surgeries at the same time.

The tummy tuck has the greatest impact and improvement on quality of life, and this is the usual starting point.

Combining procedures
Many people like to combine several procedures within a single operation. This can reduce costs, because the charges for combined procedures are reduced compared with if they were done separately. You can also reduce the total number of operations and anaesthetics you need overall.

Certain types of operation work better when combined together. Mr West can advise you which combination of procedures will suit you best for maximum tightening and removal of excess skin, to give the best scars and the best cosmetic result.

Typical combination procedures are:

Tummy tuck with arm lift
Breast uplift with thigh lift
Circumferential abdominoplasty/buttock lift/thigh lift

The results are immediately apparent: the loose hanging skin will be gone, and you’ll have an improved shape and tone of tissue in your arms, thighs, breasts, buttocks, face, or abdomen. Your figure will be better proportioned with smoother contours.

Body contouring surgery can dramatically change your appearance, make you feel better about yourself and boost your confidence.

The good results are long-lasting, provided you keep your weight stable, except for the gradual loss of natural firmness that comes to everyone with age.

Any scars improve over time, and should fade and soften. Generally the scars are disguised within natural body contours and should be fairly inconspicuous once they’ve fully settled.